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Military

The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.

The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.

Charcoal sketch on off-white paper. The work depicts the town of Boppard, Germany from across the Rhine river. Two steamships are shown on the river. A church is visible on the river bank in the left of the sketch.

Charcoal sketch on paper. The work depicts American troops crossing a bridge over the Rhine in the city of Koblenz, Germany. The bridge, made of planks laid over a series of boats, cuts vertically through the foreground.

Charcoal and ink wash sketch on paper. The work depicts a street leading through the town of Cohcem, Germany at the end of World War I. Soldiers are lined up in the street outside of the Commissary. A tall building with a spire is visible in the background.

A pencil and watercolor sketch on paper of the first American soldiers to cross the Rhine river at Coblenz, Germany (now known as Koblenz) after the Armistice of World War I. A pontoon bridge provides a crossing over the Rhine River. On the left of the bridge is a column of soldiers; a few vehicles are on the right.

A pencil sketch on paper Coblenz, Germany (now known as Koblenz). A river (Most likely the Rhine, but it could be Moselle) occupies most of the sketch. On the right bank, there are several buildings, but one tall building stands out on the right edge of the sketch (possibly Basilica St. Kastor).

A charcoal, watercolor, and pastel sketch on paper. In the drawing, six soldiers are standing in front of several timber frame buildings in a village near Montabaur, Germany. Debris is scattered around the outside of the buildings.

Pencil sketch on paper. The sketch shows a riverbank, with the river on the left and the village on the right, in the town of Coblenz (now known as Koblenz), Germany shortly after the Armistice of the First World War.

Charcoal and ink wash sketch. The sketch depicts a village on the far bank of a river. On the near bank, in the foreground, are three empty rowboats. The sketch is done on thin green paper, which is affixed to slightly thicker white card. This mount is then affixed to a large piece of heavy card board. A label underneath the sketch reads: "BRAUBACK AND THE MARKSBURG/BY E. PEIXOTTO/TRANSFERRED FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT/2971."

Charcoal drawing on paper. The sketch depicts a river (the Moselle) in the foreground; one of its banks can be seen on the left. A hill rises sharply from the river; atop the hill is the rebuilt castle at Cochem. Houses and other buildings line the river, below the castle. A long column of soldiers move along the river's bank.